sportscastingfandomcom-20200215-history
Chris Cuthbert
Chris Cuthbert (born 1957) is currently a Canadian play-by-play sportscaster for Bell Media's TSN cable network, and for the American television network NBC on NHL on NBC. Formerly, he worked for CBC Sports in a multitude of roles. He was lead play-by-play voice for Ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for CTV, where he worked alongside Pierre McGuire. Biography CBC Cuthbert joined CBC Sports in 1984, where he anchored regional western games for Hockey Night in Canada, usually from Edmonton. He also got spot play-by-play work when the network's primary western broadcaster, Don Wittman, was busy covering other events for the network, or when the schedule load necessitated it. He got his big break during the 1988 Stanley Cup Playoffs. On April 18, he was positioned as a reporter in Washington, providing brief and periodic reports of the Washington Capitals-New Jersey Devils game to the national CBC viewing audience watching the Canadian network's game broadcast from Montreal (the Canadiens against the Boston Bruins). A power outage struck the Montreal area, which ended the telecast from that city, and CBC was forced to turn to Cuthbert in Washington to provide the full broadcast - play-by-play, analyst, and host. The broadcast was totally done off the cuff as besides no regular analysts, there were no graphics or replay capabilities. His stellar solo effort caught the network's attention, was nominated for a Gemini Award, and launched what has been a very successful broadcasting career. Cuthbert rose to a sportscaster for CBC, where he called Olympic sports, figure skating, Canadian football, and NHL hockey. He became the secondary play-by-play voice of CFL on CBC behind Don Wittman in 1992 and eventually became the lead play-by-play voice, broadcasting the Grey Cup Championship each November from 1996 to 2004. His most notable work was Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) games primarily involving the Montreal Canadiens or NHL teams from Western Canada. In the era of the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada double-headers, Cuthbert usually called the late games. He was assigned to a conference final every year in the play-by-play role from 1993 until 2004. Departure from CBC Cuthbert's contract was terminated by the CBC on February 24, 2005, by CBC Sports executive director Nancy Lee while the network endured the 2004–05 NHL lockout. There was much outrage over his firing, similar to that of Ron MacLean who had almost threatened to leave the network over stalled contract negotiations, as many believed he'd be the successor to Bob Cole.1 Some criticized Lee, who had created the position Manager of Program Acquisitions for CBC Sports to hire her friend Sue Prestedge a year earlier, despite the looming threat of the NHL lockout. It was also believed that Cuthbert's strong opposition, when CBC chose to drop its popular Hockey Day in Canada broadcast, did not endear himself to Lee. This decision was widely criticized, as rival network TSN staged a Hockey Day of its own.2345 TSN and NBC After joining TSN in the spring of 2005, Cuthbert became TSN's lead CFL football voice, replacing TSN-original John Wells. Coincidentally, Cuthbert got his job at CBC in 1984 when Wells left the network to join the fledgling TSN. Since TSN gained the exclusive television rights to the CFL starting in 2008, Cuthbert has returned to his role as the primary voice of the CFL on TSN and calls every Grey Cup. Also since joining TSN in 2005, Cuthbert has served as one of the network's hockey play-by-play voices. In the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, he also worked for NBC, and usually worked alongside color commentator Peter McNab and rinkside reporter Darren Pang for regional NHL broadcasts. As a result of the tragedy of Rogers Media's massive acquisition of the national exclusive rights to the NHL in 2014, he became part of TSN's broadcasts of Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs regional games, as well as returning for NHL assignments on NBC and NBCSN, often calling the first and second round of the playoffs. Cuthbert made National Hockey League history on December 1, 2006 as the first play-by-play announcer in NHL's history to deliberately broadcast a game from ice level, rather than a high-up broadcast gondola. Along with Glenn Healy, he called the Buffalo Sabres/New York Rangers game at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. According to the Globe & Mail, "it was a good show and it's unlikely to be the last." 2010 Winter Olympics Cuthbert was also one of the play-by-play announcers for men’s ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, including announcing the gold medal game between Canada and the United States. Just before Canada's Sidney Crosby scored the gold medal winning goal 7 minutes and 40 seconds into overtime, Cuthbert said "Pavelski shot, that's saved by Luongo. Niedermayer regroups, Crosby over the line, Sidney Crosby can't bust in, up with it again he's on the ice with Iginla. Iginla—" then yelled "Crosby scores! Sidney Crosby! The golden goal! And Canada has once-in-a-lifetime Olympic gold!" and then later added "These golden games have their crowning moment." Legacy In 1998, Cuthbert won a Gemini Award for Best Sports Broadcaster, and in 2004, was recognized by Sports Media Canada as Sportscaster of the Year. In 2006, Cuthbert was given another Gemini, this time with his TSN CFL analyst, Glen Suitor, for Best Sports Play-by-Play or Analyst. In 2014, Cuthbert was inducted into the media wing of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Chris Cuthbert is one of the most unique and best Canadian sports broadcasters today. He has coined the phrase "the icebreaker," which he often says after the first goal of the game.